UK still tough says Grainger

GRAINGER expects the UK property market to continue being affected by the subdued economy, and says that it is making good progress integrating the first three housing portfolios under its Lloyds RAMP agreement.

The housebuilder said it had made £79.5m of sales in the four months to the end of July, and had a further £40.5m worth in solicitors’ hands or exchanged.

This took Grainger’s total sales pipeline for the year to £189.2m, from £154.8m a year ago.

“The resilience and liquidity of our portfolio continue to be evidenced by strong sales in excess of valuation, despite ongoing challenges in the residential market,” the company said in its interim management statement.

However, it said the UK economy continued to be subdued and anticipated this would continue in the medium term and would be reflected in the UK residential market.

In the ten months to the end of July, Grainger completed sales of 531 vacant housing units for £94.3m, at an estimated trading margin on sales of 39.7 per cent. A year ago it sold 597 units for £90.1m, at a margin of 42.7 per cent.